2005 Bouchard Père et Fils Vosne-Romanée Aux Malconsorts 1er Cru

A 2005 Vosne-Romanee Les Malconsorts smells of black raspberry, red licorice and smoked meat. Full and rich on the palate, with bitter sweet fruit and herb flavors as well as underlying meatiness, smokiness and stony minerality, this lingers impressively although it shows a trace of heat albeit at a not especially high 13.7% alcohol. Managing director Stephane Follin and cellar master Philippe Prost preside over a remarkable new, gravity-fed winemaking facility capable of handling the fruits of Bouchard’s 130 hectares of vines – Burgundy’s largest estate (with 84 hectares in premier and grand crus alone) – not to mention the enormous range of wine from purchased fruit or wines. Fully 40% of the reds are vinified in open-top fermenters with manual punch-downs (the balance in a battery of roto-fermentors) and the system of traffic control alone that must be in place during crush is hard to imagine. The underground acreage devoted to barriques similarly defies imagination – until one sees it. Prost was very cautious with pigeage this year, but incorporated a significant percentage of whole clusters with stems in many of his better lots. A reputation for improved quality is being built here to which the results of 2005 will certainly contribute. I suspect that a number of the wines I tasted had not recovered from their recent bottling, hence the number of “+?”s one sees displayed following my scores. (Wines from the Domaine are designated D on the list above.) Also recommended: 2005 Savigny-les-Beaune Les Lavieres D ($30.00; 86), 2005 Monthelie Les Duresses D ($35.00; 84), 2005 Monthelie Clos des Champs Fulliot D ($35.00; 85), 2005 Beaune 1er Cru “Beaune du Chateau” D ($45.00; 86+?), 2005 Beaune Marconnets ($35.00; 86+?), 2005 Volnay Taillepieds D ($55.00; 85+?), 2005 Pommard 1er Cru ($45.00; 84+?), 2005 Nuits-St.-Georges ($55.00; 85), 2005 Gevrey-Chambertin ($35.00; 86), 2005 Vosne-Romanee ($35.00; 85), 2005 Nuits-St.-Georges Les Porrets St.-Georges ($55.00; 86+?), 2005 Nuits-St.-Georges Les Damodes ($55.00; 86+?). Importer: Henriot, Inc, New York, NY

Deep red-ruby. Musky, wild aromas of black raspberry, meat, roast coffee and chocolate, plus a balsamic nuance. Lush, fat and concentrated, but with an almost medicinal austerity despite its outstanding sweetness. Blacker and more mineral in character than the Suchots, with superb volume, suave tannins and striking persistence. This is like Pommard Rugiens in its grain and delicacy, says Prost, while the Suchots is more like Pezerolles.